Growth and why You aren’t Seeing It
Why am I not seeing growth? Why does it seem like God isn’t moving? How is it I feel disconnected with God? If you have asked yourself any of these questions or questions similar to these, then this is the article for you. Today I want to talk to you about what the Lord showed me while reading the Book of Isaiah. Let’s check it out.
The Lord and His Vineyard
We will be going over a passage in Isaiah today, and before we jump in I want to give you the context of the passage. Isaiah is speaking to the people of Israel and rebuking them. At some points he is speaking to the northern ten tribes and at other times to the southern kingdom of Judea. He is prophesying and rebuking both of them, and as he does this God gives him this imagery.
Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
Isaiah 5:1-5 NASB1995
How does this relate to growth for believers?
Now you may be wondering why this passage actually can be applicable to believers today, but here is what the Holy Spirit showed me. If we look at the parable in terms of the Church, here is what we see. God has done so much for us, He has given us His Son. The Holy Spirit has given us gifts and abilities, along with knowledge and understanding. He has given us authority in prayer and right standing with Him through the blood of Jesus. And He has given us the Word of God and the body of Christ.
We have so much that He has given us for life, yet for some reason we don’t produce good fruit. And here is why. Just as God did everything to setup the people for success, He has set us up for success. The problem is we aren’t doing our part in that process. He can give us all the tools imaginable for success, but if we don’t us them we will never see growth. We need to use fasting, prayer, meditation on the Word, and the body of Christ to grow as a believer.
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